Eight Bells (Kentucky Derby horse)

[Vela]

I had read an account of the race that said Eight Belles was whipped
repeatedly down the stretch to the finish. I just read this article which
confirmed that with an explaination, of sorts. I don't believe it. They were
pushing her speed, period.


Eight Belles' trainer defends jockey

Posted: Today at 11:18 a.m.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The trainer of euthanized filly Eight Belles says his jockey handled the horse properly during her second-place finish at the Kentucky Derby.

Trainer Larry Jones told The Associated Press on Monday that if the Derby were run again tomorrow, he'd put jockey Gabriel Saez right back on one of his horses.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has called for the suspension of Saez. The group says the horse must have been injured during the race, and Saez should have pulled her up rather than finish.

But Jones says Saez acted exactly as he should have. He says the jockey started whipping the horse to prevent her from running into the rail.


Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sorry but it's incorrect. She was hit 4 times with the stick in the entire stretch, once on the outside and three times on the inside. It was not harsh nor merciless whipping. He also waved the whip by her head, without touching her with it, to keep in a straight path rather then veering in to the rail. I just watched the race again and counted it. Not to mention they aren't whipping the crap out of them, there is a leather popper on the end and it's generally not painful. He did not overwhip that horse. The horse was NOT hurt in the race. She ran all the way around the far turn and was pulling up with her ears pricked, there are pictures of it. She was not in distress. She changed leads and when she did her ankle snapped, I saw it on tape. As she went down her other ankle took the weight awkwardly and snapped. It was a freak accident that has never occured in that way before. She was not injured in the race, regardless of what PETA says.

Fan of racing or not a fan of racing, those are the real facts.

I disagree with horses being trained so young for any sport, especialy this one, I think it leads to problems and issues, but the facts of THIS particular case are being exaggerated in general. She was fit for the race, she ran well and placed well. She was not run out of her league. I am horribly saddened by what happened to her, I have been following her quite a while and the stable of horses for years. They are all very devastated by her loss.

Race horses are bred to race, it's what they WANT to do. If they don't want to they are often rehomed, at least by ethical breeders and owners. The stable that owns this filly sends their retired or nonracing horses to new owners for 1 dollar and retain the rights to the horse so it is never in jeopardy of being slaughtered or misused. There is a whole lot more to the sport than people know. Bad things happen, and it SUCKS, but the jockey didn't do anything wrong.


Also, Richard, yes the horses all went back to Native Dancer, but that wasn't the soundness problem, and none of the other horses went down. Hell if you go back far enough all of them came from three sire lines, three arabian stallions. So yes they are all related in that sense. If i go back far enough my morgan and my tennessee walker are related too. But her sire, Unbridled, is notorious for having unsound offspring due to genetics and I wish they would not breed less than sound horses. It does not help the situation at all. I also think they shouldn't be raced before at least 3, preferably 4.

[Alysser]

I was never really against horse racing. I had never seen a problem with it other then the fact that the horses were trained to young. Not matter what ANYONE says, I think it's a bit far as to say it's animal cruelty, I have never believed that. Those horses are treated like royalty an are loved very much by their owners. One thing that gets me is when people say the horses are forced to run. If I have learned anything from my 2 years of horse-back riding lessons I'd have to say there is NO WAY in hell you can get a horse to run if it doesn't want to. Thoroughbreds are bred to run and most of them love what they do. No one makes those horses run, they want to run. Basically, I enjoy watching horse racing over all. Alot of facts on the internet are made up lies. I've learned not to really trust the internet with things like that.

I heard horses carry 60% of their bodies on their front legs. I do not know how true this is but that would leave little to no chance of Eight Bells surviving. It really is a shame, she was such a young, beautiful horse with a lot of potential. But if the 60% thing is true, it would be completely inhumane to keep her alive. I have to say though, all I kept thinking about was Barbaro to. I would really like to see a racehorse survive something like that and be able to walk again.

Rest in Peace, Eight Bells. May you run as free as the wind at the RB.

[RICHARD]

Also, Richard, yes the horses all went back to Native Dancer, but that wasn't the soundness problem, and none of the other horses went down. Hell if you go back far enough all of them came from three sire lines, three arabian stallions. So yes they are all related in that sense. If i go back far enough my morgan and my tennessee walker are related too. But her sire, Unbridled, is notorious for having unsound offspring due to genetics and I wish they would not breed less than sound horses. It does not help the situation at all. I also think they shouldn't be raced before at least 3, preferably 4.

Thanks!

Can I assume that the breeding is done by picking out the best traits of a horse and breeding them to another animal with some other complimentary traits?

I guess what I wanted to know is what is the family tree and how far down EB was removed, or how her lineage differed from the other horses.

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I am a fan of bull riding and rodeo. I really became interested after seeing "Bodacious".

B was a bull that almost ended Tuff Hedeman's life with a skull to skull hit during a bull ride. It crushed the front of his face and he needed some real surgery to rebuild it.

WHen he was retired, his seed was sold at 2k for a container about the size of a pen refill- this was about 12 years ago.

Breeders were buying it, trying to breed another bull with the same kind of attitude. That was interesting to me -

Seeing the cost of BS (bull sperm) and the money spent on trying to 'build' a bull, I can imagine the costs of breeding horses.

Seeing the charts on EB would be fascinating.